Destination:
Ludington, MI – 1st leg: South Haven, MI
Guests Onboard:
Kyle & Kara
Departure
Port:
The Moorings in New Buffalo, MI
Date/Time:
08/14/23 @ 6:30 AM ET
Arrival
Port:
South Haven Municipal Marina in South Haven, MI
Date/Time:
08/14/23 @ 1:20 PM ET
Length:
45.6 nm
Duration:
6:50 (engine = 7.1 hours)
Weather Conditions:
Chilly with lots of clouds, but there was a beautiful sunrise with lots of colors (red in the morning, sailors take warning!)
Temperature
63, but it seemed to warm up all day
Wind (speed + Direction)
5 – 7 knots NE; winds picked up as high as 11 – 16 knots but it was still manageable
Wave Height
1.5 – 2’ but continued to die down all day
Notable Places, Experiences & Events
Exactly 2 months after our 1st sailing trip to South Haven, we decided to make the trek again. Our 1st leg of our summer sunset coast trip 2023 started with a beautiful sunrise. Kyle got up early to get the boat prepped and ready to go at 1st light – we even beat a local fisherman out of the harbor … although he was hot on our tail! Go get them fish 🎣
We left New Buffalo with a wonderful morning – lots of clouds, but the sun was peeking through all day. We were expecting a gloomy travel day. There was weather predicted to hit South Haven by 2 pm, so we needed to book it. Because the winds were not in our favor, and we were beating the storm, we decided to motor the whole way.
Kyle was nervous about the engine, but she kept chugging – and even stepped it up when we hit 2650 RPMs! Throughout the journey, Kara was meditating on her theme for the trip: trust and know. She continued repeating and reading 3 – 4 scriptures:
But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalms 31:14
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love Psalms 33:18
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:4
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalms 37:3-7
(These came in especially helpful because we received some sad news about a friend that needed our prayers…)
Anyway, God once again saved the day for our sailing journey. He held off the storm until 90 minutes after we docked … and then He opened the floodgates and it downpoured. But we made it safely to our dock, and Kyle used every dock line and every cleat to tie up SV Zeke E Boy.
Thankfully, the office worker helped us dock, but Kyle navigated our slip beautifully. We spent the next 1 – 2 hours hunkering down, eating lunch, Kara even worked out on the boat! We showered in the marina bathrooms (please clean up your hair when you are done showering – YUCK!), and cleaned up to eat out for dinner at Black Tavern. There was a break in the rain just in time for food. We walked to the harbor entrance and took some gorgeous pictures of the upcoming storm for the night, and came back to try to sleep.
SV Zeke E Boy rocked and rolled all night through a storm that seemed to go on FOREVER (10 pm – 5 am) … why are we doing this again?!? Oh yeah, to push ourselves, to grow in our sailing skills, to meet other people and to share this adventure with you and them, to enjoy God’s creation and stand in awe of it’s power of the wind and water – the Great Lakes truly are GREAT!
